Fish trap is a fishing tool to catch, exploit fish, shrimps on the canal, weak currents, low tide. Since the years before and after the liberation of the South, trap is one of the main means of fishing, catching shrimp of Ca Mau river inhabitants.
 

The fish traps of inhabitants of Ca Mau river. Photo: Nguyen Thanh Dung.

The day before, when the fish, shrimp much; at rivers, canals, many households in rural Ca Mau built a few traps for their families to catch fish and shrimp. When the fish, shrimp “run” the trap seems to be “ragged” there. When free 1-2 days, 1, 2 weeks or months to catch the fish is still alive.

Building fish traps take many logs. Therefore, it is important to prepare before building. The log has an average height of 1.3 to 1.7 meters (depending on the depth of the shallow river), made mainly of the reed. There are also a few people use bamboo, small bamboo and then braided together in sheets with dry banana. However, the strands are more durable than dry bananas.

When constructing the fish traps, the pile should be plugged to the bottom of the river according to the prescribed “schema”. The pile system is tightly tied together by bamboo sticks (frame). Then, mount the panels along the frame. The bottom part of it is plugged into the bottom of the river. The middle and upper part are splinted and tied to the frame. Its task is to fish many fish on the trap. The fish trap often have many mouths to catch fish. The mouth of the trap on the outside is relatively wide and deep inside, the narrower the mouth of the trap. At the mouth of the trapdoor is attached set (made of bamboo like a comb). The task of it is that when the shrimp has come in, they keep the shrimp from going out.

The construction of trap requires technical and skilled. Post systems are installed, linked together as “battlegrounds”. The “master" builder is a person who can identify where there are many shrimp and fish, “terrain and flowing water suitable. When the veil is built, the fishes are obediently entered naturally without being able to return. There is a strange thing is almost absolutely no pattern, the shape of the fish trap are the same. Depending on the worker and terrain, the trap is formatted at the time of construction. sometimes it has many mouths, the shape of twist; sometimes it is small mouth, simple shape; sometimes is big and sometimes is small.  

When the shrimp, fish in the trap and then swim around the circle, meet the empty space to find the way to escape. However, the more escape route, the shrimp, fish are focused on a place called “corral”. Shrimp and fish are invisible and can not escape. For a few days, the owner of the racquet to catch shrimp, fish to bring back.

Fish traps are mainly built in fresh canals. Main products are crayfish, turtles, catfish, snakehead, mullet, perch, eel, snake, etc.

Nowadays, due to the depletion of fishery resources and the traffic and travel of people in the area, the building trap for fishing of fish and shrimp in rivers and canals in Ca Mau is almost gone.